Crown lawyer Tara Dobec asked for a sentence of four and a half years in prison minus the six months Helfer has already served, citing a scientific link between cruelty to animals and violence towards humans. The Crown also asked for a DNA sample and a lifetime prohibition on owning pets or weapons.

Defence lawyer Jonathan Boss asked for nine to 10 months of jail time minus the six and a half months Helfer has already served, arguing that Helfer had no history of animal abuse. He also asked for two to three years of probation and anger management treatment.

The maximum sentence is five years in prison and a lifetime ban from owning animals.

The court heard that a petition calling for that maximum sentence in Helfer’s case reached more than 138,000 signatures.

“The eyes of the world are watching to see how our courts sentence Breezy’s attacker,” said Ottawa Humane Society executive director Bruce Roney in a December news release. “We all want justice for Breezy and for crimes against animals to be recognized as worthy of serious consequences.”

Helfer also pleaded guilty to criminal harassment of his mother and two counts of assault with a weapon after he waved a rake at his neighbours.

He denied allegations made by his family that he killed a pregnant chinchilla and his pet rats.